3sigma

A conviction for blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan.…Angry Muslim protesters held rallies demanding she be punished.…The girl's plight is likely to reignite debate about growing religious intolerance in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where strict anti-blasphemy laws make defaming Islam or the Prophet Mohammed, or desecrating the Koran, a capital offence.

This is what really disgusts me about religion. These religious believers think they have the right to kill someone for insulting their imaginary friend. It’s like people thinking they have the right to kill someone for insulting Santa Claus or Harry Potter. I have nothing but contempt for people who behave that way.

3sigma

I noticed this recent development and was just about to comment on it, but you beat me to it Graybeard.

If these news reports are true then it appears the only person guilty of blasphemy here is the imam. However, it is revealing that none of the reports I’ve read mention anything about angry mobs in the streets calling for him, his family and his house to be burned—as they did for the Christian girl. No one is calling for the expulsion of the imam’s followers as they called for the expulsion of the Christians from the community. In one report, his followers even express anger that the imam was arrested and are shunning his accuser. The girl’s neighbours, on the other hand, think that she will never be safe, even if the charges against her are dropped.

It’s almost as though these religious believers are using blasphemy only as an excuse for intolerance and violence towards people who don’t hold their beliefs. I wonder what could cause them to behave that way?

they fear what they do not understand,that is not an excuse,its just stupidity. There was a time in the modern world where we put these people in institutions,out of fear. Then we better understood the condition and cause,the people with the condition are much better off now .

Then there were darker ages where we thought immediately they were possessed by demons and these people didn't have a chance....this is still where some people in this world are at.....because of ignorance and fear mongering

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There's no right there's no wrong,there's just popular opinion (Brad Pitt as Jeffery Goines in 12 monkeys)

It isn't extremism, per se, that makes people fetishize a book. At least, I don't think so.

I think it is human nature and goes back to simple idolatry. People naturally want to have a tangible sacred thingy. In islamic places, because they cannot have images or statues of Mo, they make the koran the fetish object. In Sikhism, they call their holy book the "Living Guru" and treat it better than they do most family members. In the US, many of us - often former military people - act as if the flag were the country itself.

It is all crazyness and comes from our reptillian brains. I think anyone who fetishizes anything should be prohibited from reproducing.

It isn't extremism, per se, that makes people fetishize a book. At least, I don't think so.

I think it is human nature and goes back to simple idolatry. People naturally want to have a tangible sacred thingy. In islamic places, because they cannot have images or statues of Mo, they make the koran the fetish object. In Sikhism, they call their holy book the "Living Guru" and treat it better than they do most family members. In the US, many of us - often former military people - act as if the flag were the country itself.

It is all crazyness and comes from our reptillian brains. I think anyone who fetishizes anything should be prohibited from reproducing.

I like your reply, ST.

Idolatry in any sense is always more powerful than individualism, at least it seems that way to me. Be it the koran, the bible, Justin Beiber or Jesus in a grilled cheese sandwich, the symbol-- or idol-- takes control. It also gives reason to differ on very basic beliefs.

(GASPS) You drew a picture of Mohammed?? Or allowed your wife to have an abortion for medical reasons?? Step one, act irrationally. Step two, prepare to be admired.

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2nd of all, if all you believe in is peer-reviewed papers, you won't go very far in life...

3sigma

The Christian girl was released on bail after 1,000,000 rupees was paid by an advocacy group, the All Pakistan Minorities Association. Bail was granted after a Muslim cleric was accused of and arrested for fabricating the evidence against the girl. It is the first time anyone has been released on bail in Pakistan after being charged with blasphemy. The charges against the girl have not been dropped.

After she was released, she was escorted by armed guards in an armoured vehicle to a military helicopter and flown to an undisclosed location. Such measures were deemed necessary because, since 1990, 52 people have been killed extra-judicially[1] after being implicated in blasphemy charges. Two politicians were also assassinated last year—one for daring to suggest that the blasphemy laws should be reformed, the other for expressing support for an accused blasphemer.

In this report, the Pakistani President is quoted as saying, “Blasphemy by anyone cannot be condoned…” Nonsense. Imprisoning or killing someone for pointing out your God is imaginary is what shouldn’t be condoned.

In the same report, an imam is quoted as saying, “If Christians complain that they are discriminated against, those complaints should be looked into, but at the same time, the followers of other religions must also respect Islam the way we respect other religions.” The self-righteous hypocrisy of some religious believers really disgusts me. Here you have an imam demanding respect for Islam while another imam falsely accuses an 11-year-old girl of blasphemy in an attempt to rid the community of Christians and his followers threaten to burn her house and kill her family. A few years ago, Muslims around the world were loudly proclaiming Islam as a religion of peace while simultaneously killing people because someone drew a cartoon of Muhammad.

Christians are no better. They constantly make self-righteous claims about following the teachings of Jesus while displaying intolerance and bigotry towards gays and atheists; threatening anyone who complains about the teaching of creationism or the display of Ten Commandments and prayer banners in public schools; or sexually abusing young children and covering it up.

There is no way that something like blasphemy should be punishable by civil charges, let alone capital ones. And as shown in this case, such charges make it extremely easy for religious "power figures" to try to abuse such a law for their own selfish ends.

In the same report, an imam is quoted as saying, “If Christians complain that they are discriminated against, those complaints should be looked into, but at the same time, the followers of other religions must also respect Islam the way we respect other religions.” The self-righteous hypocrisy of some religious believers really disgusts me.

Exactly right. It's the same as the Christian "love thy neighbor" philosophy. If someone thinks and believes the same thing you do, then they are your neighbor. If they have a different point of view and do not believe the same things you do, then they are not your neighbor.

It has more to do with ideological proximity than physical proximity. So the good Imam thinks it should be that other religions give Islam the same respect Islam extents to other religions?

He is calling for an all out war.

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I show affection for my pets by holding them against me and whispering, "I love you" repeatedly as they struggle to break free.